Faculty Research and News

The faculty at Charleston School of Law are distinguished scholars, experienced practitioners, and dedicated mentors committed to student success. Known for their accessibility and professional experience, the Law School faculty bring the law to life in the classroom while preparing students to lead with skill, integrity, and purpose in the legal profession.

Katie Brown

Dean Katie Brown has several items of scholarly news from the summer of 2026:

May

• 4th Fundamentals of Legal Assisting in South Carolina
• 6th Charleston Law Podcast on Summer AI Tech classes
• 15th SC CLE: Externship Best Practices and How to Take the AI Plunge Without Drowning
• 21st National CLE for WickardAI
• AI for Lawyers: Ethical Duties, Professional Responsibility, and Risk Management in 2026
• AALLIn Podcast (Episode 2)

June

• 5th National CLE WickardAI
• AI for Lawyers: Advanced Tools, Workflow Strategies, and Practice Applications in 2026
• 12th NBI Microsoft Word Templates training
• 16th NBI Becoming a Power User of MS Word and Excel: A Paralegal’s Guide
• 22nd Co-hosted the inaugural ILTA Law School Virtual Roundtable (how technology/GenAI instruction is being incorporated in different schools across the country)
• Charleston School of Law Inaugural – Practical AI Insights for Legal Professionals Summit (created with Megan White and speaker the day of with Frank, Allyson, and Andrew)
• AALLIn Podcast (Episode 3)

July

• AALL Annual Meeting: Chair, Private Law Librarian and Information Professionals Summit committee.
  • 20th Training for a Lawyer Audience: Strategies That Stick
  • 21st Alternative Teaching: How to Reach Students Outside of the Traditional Classroom
• 29th AI and Pedagogy: Syllabi, Exercises, Rubrics and Your Course Content – SEALS Discussant
• 30th Innovation and Impact in Legal Research Pedagogy – SEALS Discussant
• Anchored in Authority: Strategies for Teaching Legal Research and Citation in an AI-Driven Age -SEALS Discussant
• AALLIn Podcast (Episode 4)

August

• Top 50 Legal Innovators in Academia (2026)
• AALLIn Podcast (Episode 5)

Dean Brown accepted an invitation to present at the 2027 SC Bar Convention for the South Carolina Bar’s Technology, Innovation & Intellectual Property Section program, titled: “AI and the Legal System: Tech and IPI Foundations, Ethics and What Comes Next.”

Lisa Smith-Butler

Prof. Smith Butler’s article, Lawyering in the Age of AI: Ethics, Sanctions, and Hallucinations: What’s the Fuss? is scheduled for publication in Vol. 17 of the fall issue of the Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental and Innovation Law.  It grew out of her presentation, “Robots, Rules, and Responsibilities:  Ethics for Lawyers in the AI Era” at the November 2025 South Carolina Association of Courts Local Government Institute.

Abstract

What are a lawyer’s ethical obligations when using generative artificial intelligence? This article explores how AI transforms the lawyer’s role and tasks in the practice of law. How do these changes impact a lawyer’s ethical obligations to his or her clients, third parties, opposing counsel, and the tribunal? How can a lawyer handle fees when using AI? How can a lawyer ethically incorporate the use of AI into his or her practice? How can the dreaded “hallucination” and sanctions be avoided?  To answer these questions, ABA Formal Opinion 24-512 is examined as to its application to the Model Rules of Pro. Conduct, specifically Rules 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1, 3.3, 5.1, 5.3, and 8.4. It also examines the role that sanctions and Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 11 and similar state procedural rules play when attorneys are found to have improperly and unethically used an AI. Selected cases regarding AI hallucinations and sanctions are examined, as are state and local bar association guidance.  It concludes with a checklist and best practices for attorneys as they cope with the changes AI is bringing to the practice of law.

• Prof. Smith-Butler was a discussant at two panels at SEALS: Focus on Teachers, Pedagogy, and Evaluation by the Distance Education Committee; and Focus on AI and Other Educational Technologies by the Distance Education Committee.

Michelle Mensore Condon

• In May, Prof. Michelle Condon presented at a virtual CLE for externship site supervisors, sponsored by Charleston School of Law and the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina.  Prof. Condon presented Best Practices for Externships.

Kevin Eberle

• Prof. Kevin Eberle published the 2026 edition of his annual Supreme Court recap in the SC Lawyer magazine.

Kevin Eberle & Dylan Malagrinò

• Prof. Kevin Eberle and Dean Dylan Malagrinò’s (along with Brian Turner, President of the Charleston Historic Preservation Society) book, titled: Historic Preservation Law (ABA 2026), is now available.

Justin Kahn

• In July, adjunct Prof. Justin Kahn published the newest edition of his book, South Carolina Rules Annotated 2026.

Dylan Malagrinò

• Dean Dylan Malagrinò’s law review article, “Equitable Takings” and the Limits to Their Normative Foundations, was published in Volume 59, Issue 2 of the Akron Law Review.

• Dean Malagrinò’s law review article, Reconciling Historic Preservation and Disability Access, was published in Volume 75, Issue 4 of the American University Law Review.  This article is a response to Network Capabilities in Land Use and Disability Law by Prof. Robin Paul Malloy of Syracuse University College of Law.

• Dean Malagrinò’s law review article, Reevaluating Kaplan and Katzenbach: A Look at Their Skepticism toward Restricting the Preemptive Use of Force through the Lens of the Trump Doctrine, was published in Volume 48 Issue 2 of the Houston Journal of International Law.

• Dean Malagrinò’s book, South Carolina Estate Planning and Will Drafting with Forms, is expected to be available this month (September) from Lexis/Nexis.

• August: Dean Malagrinò was invited to teach one class session in a course titled “Law & Economics” at Clemson University.  The class, with a future date yet to be determined, will be based on property law for urban planning students. 

Jon Marcantel

• In May, Wallethub.com quoted Dean Marcantel on how to use credit cards to build credit.